Jason's Top 5: Part II

Aug 15, 2008 - 10:58 AM PST

So waaaaaaaay back in December I decided to start a blog where I list my top 5 _______. Long story short, a lot went down since then and I've been crrraaazzzyyy distracted and almost completely forgot about it. Well I wanna keep it going cuz I haven't blogged in a while. This time around I'll be listing the Top 5 Films That Had a Major Impact on Me. As with my first installment, I encourage you to please provide your own top 5. Hope you enjoy!


1. Garden State

Garden State came out in 2004 but I didn't watch it until 2006. At that point in time I was going through a big identity crisis and the movie just kind of fit how I was feeling perfectly. It's the single film that got me into indie filmmaking, indie music, and made me realize the kind of movies I really wanted to be a part of. To this day I still watch Garden State whenever I'm in a down or lost kind of mood. It's just really hopeful.

2. The Dark Knight

Normally I wouldn't put such a blockbuster success of a movie on my list, but The Dark Knight is without a doubt, the deepest mainstream movie I've ever seen. I think a big part of that has to do with Christopher Nolan who was originally an indie director. He directed Memento which basically flipped the traditional way of storytelling upside down. The Dark Knight isn't so much a superhero movie but a character drama told through the superhero/action genre. Of course, it goes without saying that Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker is epic. It's seriously the first time I've ever watched the same scene over and over again on YouTube because his performance is so captivating. It's a modern classic.

3. Vanilla Sky

Cameron Crowe is a director that a lot of people have mixed feelings about. I think he's really polarizing. You either love him or you hate him. Personally, I love everything he does. Vanilla Sky is a very weird movie. That's for sure. It's an acquired taste. The thing I love about Vanilla Sky is that as much as it has some truly disturbing moments, the ultimate message of the film is love and hope. The juxtaposition of dark and hopeful has always been really appealing to me.

4. Fight Club

Now here's film that a lot of people just write off as a weird, dark movie about guys who like to beat each other up. In actuality, it's much, much more than that. I'm a big proponent of movies having a deeper meaning. Like a great book, it shouldn't just be about the story. Fight Club is really about consumerism and the shallow, materialistic, and superficial nature of it. This is something that I really relate to. The other thing that I really love about this movie is that the narrator has a major role in the storytelling, voice-over's being an element I love to see utilized so creatively.

5. Into the Wild

While Into the Wild is somewhat of a slow film, if you can watch it all and really pay attention to every scene, it is a really amazing thing to experience. The story of Christopher McCandless, who left his home after college to go on a hitchhiking trip to the Alaskan wilderness is one that I can relate to on a certain level. McCandless doesn't feel like he belongs in mainstream society, his principles don't fit in with the ideals of his parents. His story is tragic but beautiful. In his last minutes of life he realizes how much he really enjoyed about life and feels fulfilled. On top of the story, the cinematography and the original music by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder really bring the whole film together.